Pseudoscorpion, have you seen one?

[Pattywack]

I have a tiny critter in my mini orchid terrarium and I've looked and read quite a bit about them. I've not seen any mention of them here and wondered if anyone has had experience with them. As I understand, they are not a "bad bug". I tried to take a pic but they are really tiny, about 2 mm.

[MrHappyRotter]

I have only very rarely seen them, and the last time has been over a decade ago. Yeah, they are quite small, but pretty cool. They basically look like baby scorpions without the tail, and they are predatory creatures that may even be beneficial.

[Fiacre]

I am certainly no expert, but due to its predatory nature I would guess that it is likely beneficial, as MrHappyRotter suggested.

The biggest downside possible is that if a predator is present, that probably means that prey - which are likely pests in your terrarium - are present.

[Pattywack]

Thanks for the reply MrHappyRotter and Fiacre. I have seen springtails in the few potted plants and at one time I had an issue with gnats. Most plants in here are mounted and hanging. There is sheet moss on the bottom and it could be replaced, I spray it daily to help with humidity. This terrarium is small, kitchen countertop size. This little pseudoscorpion is so cute, I put him back in. I had never seen anything like it and not much information as far as orchids and or house plants. I hope I see him again. Here is another pic.

[Pattywack]

Sorry, the pic didn't upload. Here it is.

[Paul]

Don't see the little guys very often but they are neat lil 'uns. As has been mentioned, they are predatory and as such should be left alone to do their thing.

[No-Pro-mwa]

Glad to know there good bugs. I would have probably squished it. I think it looks kind of creepy. But then allot of people don't like the little jumping spiders and I love them. They are sometimes so funny to watch. I watch one once while he was sizing up a fly. Way funny, he kept crawling closer but he must have decided it was to big as he never did jump on it.

[Leafmite]

What a neat little bug!

[Pattywack]

It is a neat little bug! I've seen it or another one a few times, always on a pot crawling. This time I picked the pot up and set it on the counter and the little guy crawled off. Great opportunity for a pic. If you put your finger in front of it, it zips backwards away from you. I let it climb onto a leaf and set it back in the terrarium. It must be happy in there, not sure what it is finding to eat. I don't know where it came in from.

I've gotten past the creepy feeling, it's so tiny and the pincers are a hoot! Lol

[MrHappyRotter]

Agreed, I find them to be adorable and would love to encounter them more often. If memory serves me correctly, they are arboreal, so they spend most of their lives in trees. That may explain why I they seem to be a rare sighting. I guess it might also just be that they're not very common around here.

Anyway, if you have gnats and springtails, I'm certain that's what the psuedoscorpion is eating. In my collection the only predatory critters I see with regularity are very tiny spiders that build webs in the spag to catch similarly small creatures (like springtails).